The Himalayas are fragile mountains formed from the tussle of tectonic plates that make the region seismically active.

BBC: Nepal floods change river course and threaten tourism

This tectonic shifts taking place in the region have altered the American role in the Middle East indefinitely, if not forever.

CNN: The Sweep: The risk of democracy in the Middle East

Roger Bilham, a geophysicist at the University of Colorado, says the latest quake may have released only a tenth of the pent-up energy that has accumulated along the region's fault lines due to tectonic shifts.

ECONOMIST: Tragedy on one of the world’s main fault lines | The